Locking system for catheter

ABSTRACT

A catheter of the present invention includes a tubular member and a lockable connector having a hub and a locking device. The locking device includes a semi-oval button; a rectangular main operating part; an accepting part having a pair of projections and an accepting hole; and a latching part coupled to one of the projections. The hub includes a guide hole into which the locking device is inserted and a first body passage formed horizontally toward the inside of the hub, the first body passage communicating with the guide hole. The locking device can be released from the locked position only by use of an appropriate key. A tip of the tubular member is made of hard material and has a double adhesion structure so that the catheter tube can easily be inserted into a body cavity.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to catheters and, more particularly, to adrainage catheter having a locking device which can be locked orunlocked more easily. In addition, the present invention relates to adistal end of catheter made of hard material so that the drainagecatheter can easily be inserted into a body cavity.

BACKGROUND ART

Drainage catheters are generally used to drain bile or pus from a bodycavity, for example, an abdominal cavity in order to mitigate symptomsof diseases. A Drainage catheter comprises a tubular member having aproximal end opposite a distal end, a tension member, and a lockableconnector. The tubular member includes a series of holes positionedproximate the distal end. The distal end of the tubular member is formedto be positioned into a desired configuration such as a closed loop orpigtail. The tension member extends through the hollow tubular memberand is positioned for drawing the distal end into the desiredconfiguration. The lockable connector comprises a hub coupled to theproximal end of the tubular member and a locking lever coupled to thehub. The locking lever secures the pulling end of the tension member tothe hub after the tension member is fully pulled so that the desiredloop configuration can be maintained. The hub has a coupling end,through which a channel extends. The channel is aligned with andconnected to the tubular member by a connector cap.

FIG. 1 shows a cam-locked drainage catheter, as a conventional drainagecatheter, which can adjust arbitrarily a loop configuration of a distalend (10′) of a tubular member (1′). The cam-locked drainage cathetercomprises a lockable connector (2′) having a hub and a locking lever(21′) pivotedly connected in a channel of the hub for moving a camsurface at one end of the lever between a locked position and anunlocked position. Thus, a patient can easily use the drainage catheterwith one hand. These catheters are typically introduced into the patientby means of a large hypodermic needle or trocar. A wire guide isinserted through the needle, which is then removed. The tubular member(1′) with a stiffening cannula positioned therein is then passed overthe wire guide into a body cavity. The cannula and wire guide arewithdrawn, leaving the catheter in the desired cavity. Then, a proximalend of a monofilament (4′) as a tension member is moved or drawn to formthe distal end (10′) into a desired loop or pigtail configuration. Next,the locking lever (21′) is pulled downward to fix the position of themonofilament with respect to the tubular member, thereby maintaining thedesired loop configuration. Here, the protruding end of the monofilament(4′) may be cut so as to get an appropriate length. When the lockinglever (21′) is pulled upward, the lever rotates by appropriate anglesand the monofilament is released automatically from the locking lever(21′), thereby releasing the pigtail configuration. In addition, theloop configuration of the flexible distal end can be reformed intoanother configuration after straightening the distal end portion byinserting the stiffening cannula into the catheter tube.

The conventional cam-locked drainage catheters have the pivotablelocking lever to hold the monofilament in place so that the loopconfiguration is maintained through its intended use, and, therefore,doctors can easily lock or unlock the lockable connector (2′) of thecatheter. However, the lever (21′) may be rotated arbitrarily due tomovement of a patient or inadvertences during operation, and, therefore,the monofilament may move distally and release the pigtailconfiguration. In addition, because a tip of the catheter tube is madeof flexible (or soft) material such as polyamide, it is difficult toinsert the catheter tube into a blood vessel.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a drainage catheterwith a locking device that substantially obviates one or more problemsdue to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a drainage catheterwith a locking device, which can easily form the distal end of thecatheter tube into the desired configuration, prevent the loopconfiguration of the distal end from being inadvertently released duringoperation, and easily release a locked position of the locking device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drainagecatheter that can be easily inserted into a body cavity.

To achieve the object and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, thepresent invention provides a drainage catheter comprising a tubularmember and a lockable connector having a hub and a locking device. Thelocking device comprises a semi-oval button; a rectangular mainoperating part extending vertically from the center of the button; anaccepting part having a pair of projections and an accepting hole, whichaccepts the main operating part; and a latching part coupled to the topof the projection with an appropriate angle. The hub comprises a guidehole into which the locking device is inserted and a first body passageformed horizontally toward the inside of the hub, the first body passagecommunicating with and being at right angle to the guide hole. Inaddition, a tip of the tubular member has a double adhesion structure sothat the catheter tube can easily be inserted into a body cavity.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fullyunderstood from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a conventional drainage catheter having a locking lever;

FIG. 2 depicts a cross-sectional view of the locking device according tothe present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a sectioned longitudinal view of a hub coupled to thelocking device according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 depicts a drainage catheter having a lockable connector accordingto the present invention.

<Reference>  1: catheter tube  2: lockable connector  4: monofilament 10: a distal end of catheter tube  20: locking device  23: first bodypassage  24: second body passage  25: third body passage  26: guide hole 27: input hole 210: button 230: accepting part 240: main operating part260: latching part

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

Referring to FIG. 2, a locking device of the present invention comprisesa semi oval button (210). The button is coupled to a main operating part(240) with a rectangular shape. On the right side of the main operatingpart (240), a sub-operating part (220) is positioned alongside of themain operating part. On the left side of the main operating part (240),an arrival guide part (250) about ⅙ in length of the main operating part(240) is positioned alongside of the main operating part. The distal endof the main operating part (240) is inserted into an accepting hole(231) of an accepting part (230). The accepting part (230) has a pair ofprojections (232 and 233) at both sides, one of which is longer than theother one. The top of the longer projection (232) is in contact with thebottom of the sub-operating part (220). A latching part (260) is coupledto the shorter projection (233) and is tilted slightly toward outsidewith respect to the projection (233). The latching part (260) has afirst catching prominence (262) and a second catching prominence (263)that is positioned above from the first catching prominence. The firstcatching prominence (262) is larger in area than the second catchingprominence (263).

FIG. 3 shows a partially sectioned, longitudinal view of a hub coupledto a locking device, which is in locked position. Referring to FIG. 3,the hub (2) according to the present invention comprises a first bodypassage (23), a second body passage (24), a third body passage (25), aguide hole (26), and an input hole (27). The first body passage (23) isformed horizontally toward the inside of the hub. The guide hole (26) isformed vertically in the hub. The guide hole (26) communicates with thefirst body passage (23) and is at right angle to it. The second bodypassage (24) is formed vertically downward from the center of the bottomof the guide hole (26). The input hole (27) projects toward outside fromthe hub and is coupled to the third body passage (25) horizontally. Inother word, the input hole (27) communicates with the third body passage(25). The locking device (20) is inserted into the guide hole (26) ofthe hub.

As shown in FIG. 3, a tubular member (1) of the catheter is coupled tothe hub (2) through a threaded distal connector end and a connector cap.A monofilament (4) extends through the hollow tubular member (1) via thefirst body passage (23), a gap (28) between the locking device (20) andthe guide hole (26), the second body passage (24), and the third bodypassage (25). The third body passage (25) is connected to the tubularmember (1) through the distal connector end so that the monofilament (4)can extend through the tubular member.

FIG. 4 depicts a drainage catheter having a lockable connector accordingto the present invention.

When a doctor treats a patient using the catheter according to thepresent invention, the doctor first determines an appropriate locationon an affected part where the distal end of the catheter is positioned,and a catheter tract. After narcotizing and incising the affected part,the doctor prepares to insert the catheter into the incised part. Alarge hypodermic needle or trocar is introduced into the patient, and awire guide is inserted through the needle, which is then removed. Astiffening cannula is inserted into the tubular member (1) via the inputhole (27) and the third body passage (25). To perform imaging diagnosis,an adequate liquid is inputted using, for example, a trocar method. Thetubular member with the stiffening cannula positioned therein is passedover the wire guide into the cavity. The cannula and wire guide arewithdrawn, leaving the catheter in the desired cavity.

Then, the monofilament is drawn to configure the distal end of thecatheter tube into a desired configuration. The pigtail loop of thecatheter is tightened by pulling on the proximal end of themonofilament, which extends through the catheter. The desiredconfiguration of the catheter tube can be formed through performing thisprocedure repeatedly. Subsequently, after forming the desiredconfiguration, the button (210) of the locking device (20) is pressed tofix the position of the monofilament with respect to the tubular member,thereby maintaining the desired loop configuration. When the button(210) is pressed, the locking device (20) moves downward along the guidehole (26) of the hub until the second catching prominence (263) of thelatching part (260) is caught on the upper part of the first bodypassage (23) of the hub (2). When the second catching prominence (263)is caught on the upper part of the first body passage (23), themonofilament is held in place because the gap (28) between the lockingdevice (20) and the guide hole (26) becomes narrow. As a result, whenthe locking device (20) is in a locked position, the monofilament (4) isimmovable, thereby maintaining the desired loop configuration.

To release the locked position of the locking device (20) in order toadjust the loop configuration, an appropriate key is used. If a userinserts the appropriate key (30) into the first body passage (23) andpushes down the latching part (260) of the locking device (20) strongly,the latching part (260) gets bent backward and, therefore, the secondcatching prominence (263) becomes apart from the upper part of the firstbody passage (23). Accordingly, the locking device (20) is released fromthe locked position.

In using the drainage catheter of the present invention, the lockingdevice (20) can be released from the locked position only by means of anappropriate key (30). Thus, the doctor can treat securely the patientensuring the locked position of the catheter, and prevent the lockedposition from being inadvertently released during operation by movementof the patient.

In addition, the tip of the tubular member (1) of the catheter is madeof polyurethane and formed through double adhesion processing so that ininserting the catheter into a body cavity, the stiffening cannula maynot deviate from the distal end (10) of the catheter tube.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Thus, a lockable drainage catheter according to the present inventioncan maintain a desired loop configuration of catheter and easily releasethe locked position of the catheter. Particularly, the lockable catheterwith the locking device can be conveniently used as medical implement ormedical equipment because it can save doctors' trouble during operationon an affected part.

1. A catheter comprising: a tubular member; a locking device comprising a semi-oval button, a main operating part which extends vertically from the center of said button, said main operating part having a rectangular shape, an accepting part which has a pair of projections and an accepting hole which accepts said main operating part, and a latching part coupled to one of said projections, said latching part being tilted slightly toward outside with respect to said projection; and a hub comprising a guide hole into which said locking device is inserted, and a first body passage formed horizontally toward the inside of said hub, said first body passage being at right angle to said guide hole and communicating with said guide hole.
 2. The catheter of claim 1, wherein a tip of said tubular member is made of polyurethane. 